In nuclear power plants utilizing the pressurized water reactor cycle, heat is released in the reactor from the fission of nuclear fuel. The heat is removed from the reactor by continuously circulating a fluid called reactor coolant. After being heated in the reactor, the coolant flows to a heat exchanger, commonly referred to as the steam generator, where it gives up heat and then returns to the reactor for further heating. In the steam generator, the nuclear reactor coolant heats a secondary water which is then used to drive a steam turbine. After exiting the steam turbine, the steam is condensed and returned to the steam generator for further heating by the reactor coolant. The reactor-steam generator coolant loop is normally referred to as the primary loop and the steam generator-turbine loop is usually referred to as the secondary loop.
The steam generator is typically a shell and tube type heat exchanger with the primary coolant passing through the inside of the heat exchanger tubes and the secondary water passing over the outside surface of the tubes and contained by the shell of the heat exchanger. Heat transfer from the reactor coolant to the secondary water occurs over most of the length of the tubes. To effect a seal at the end of the tubes, and thus prevent mixing of the reactor coolant and the secondary water, the ends of the tubes are connected to a tube sheet comprising a flat plate with apertures therethrough for receiving the ends of the tubes. The ends of the tubes are either seal welded to the tube sheet or expanded in the apertures to effect a sealed joint. The peripheral edges of the tube sheet are sealed to the shell of the steam generator and to a reactor coolant water box.
Steam generators are usually oriented such that the tubes generally run in a vertical direction and can be of the straight through or return flow type. In the straight through type steam generator, the tubes are straight and connected to tube sheets at both ends. The reactor coolant enters a water box at the top of the steam generator, flows through the tubes and is collected in a water box at the bottom of the steam generator. More common is the return flow type steam generator in which the tubes are an inverted "U" shape having both ends connected to the same tube sheet at the bottom of the steam generator. The water box below the tube sheet contains a division plate oriented to effectively seal that portion of the tube sheet containing tube inlets from that portion containing outlets. In this manner, reactor coolant flows into the inlet portion of the water box, through the inverted "U" tubes and into the outlet portion of the water box. In either the straight through or return type steam generator, the tubes are very long and require support along their length. This is accomplished by positioning support plates within the shell of the heat exchanger at various positions along the length of the tubes. The support plates contain apertures through which the tubes pass and have their peripheral edges connected to the shell of the steam generator.
To facilitate installation of the tubes and to allow for differential thermal expansion between the tubes and the shell, the apertures in the support plates are oversized to allow sliding of the tube relative to the support plate. However, the apertures in the plate must be small enough to provide adequate horizontal support for the tubes and to prevent excessive tube vibration during operation. Thus, crevices are formed between the support plates and the tubes. These crevices collect debris and corrosion products during operation of the steam generator, thereby promoting crevice corrosion. In addition, the joints between the tubes and the tube sheet previously described contain crevices which lead to crevice corrosion.
Steam generator tubes are susceptible to several types of corrosion mechanisms that can ultimately lead to leakage or significant wall thinning. These include primary water stress corrosion cracking, secondary side intergranular attack, secondary intergranular stress corrosion cracking and secondary side wastage. Primary side degradation typically occurs at locations of high tensile residual stress such as expansion transition areas, inner row U-bends, and tube support locations. Secondary side degradation occurs at locations where impurities can concentrate, providing corrosion sites, such as tube-to-tube sheet crevices, tube support plate-to-tube interfaces, anti-vibration bars interfaces, and sludge pile regions. Current mitigation techniques for these corrosion-induced problems include: steam generator replacement, plugging degraded tubes, electroplating tube interior surfaces, and sleeving degraded tubes.
Steam generator replacement is a drastic solution involving substantial capital investment and months or years of plant down time with the attendant loss of revenue accompanying extended plant outages. Plugging of the degraded tubes takes the tube out of service, reducing the steam generator efficiency. The ability to plug tubes is based on the "plugging margin" that is calculated based on operating experience for each steam generator. Once the "plugging margin" has been expended, further plugging of tubes reduces the capacity of the steam generator and the entire plant must be de-rated--operated at a reduced capacity.
Electroplating the steam generator tubes with nickel allows the tube to remain in service. Furthermore, nickel plating will seal small leaks and prevent further degradation, but does not restore the structural integrity of the tube. Therefore, a major limitation of electroplating is that it is effective only on small cracks that are detected early so that repair can be accomplished before the strength of the tube is seriously degraded.
Sleeving is a more expensive mitigation technique, but allows the tube to remain in service. Sleeving is accomplished by inserting in the damaged portion of the steam generator tube a short, tubular sleeve having an external diameter slightly less than the internal diameter of the steam generator tube and welding the sleeve to the tube. The sleeve is generally made of the same material as the tube and, in effect, replaces the damaged section of tubing. Therefore, the structural integrity of the tube is restored by this method of repair. Sleeving is generally performed when the steam generator "plugging margin" is approached.
One approach to sleeving is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,846 issued Nov. 19, 1991 to William E. Pirl and incorporated by reference herein. In that patent, the sleeve is welded to the tube using a laser beam welding head positioned inside the tube. Laser energy from a laser source is directed through a fiber optic cable to the welding head where a canted mirror reflects the beam onto the interior surface of the sleeve. The weld head rotates in one axial position along the tube near one end of the sleeve and the laser beam delivers sufficient heat to fuse the sleeve to the tube in a narrow, circumferential band around the sleeve/tube interface. The weld accomplished by this method is what is commonly referred to in the art as an autogenous weld in that the base metal of the sleeve and tube are melted and fused and no additional filler metal is added during the welding process. The weld head is then repositioned at the other end of the sleeve and another autogenous weld is accomplished.
Although sleeving in this manner can restore the structural integrity of the tube, it has a number of disadvantages. First, the sleeve necessarily decreases the internal diameter of the tube passage, adding increased pressure drop to the flow of coolant through the tube when the steam generator is placed in service. Also, if the repair is located in the lower portion of a tube, such as at the tube sheet, subsequent repair of tube degradation above the location of the first sleeve is prevented because another sleeve cannot be inserted past the already installed sleeve. In addition, the autogenous welds at both ends of the sleeve are usually recessed from the end of the tube because it is very difficult to accomplish a quality fillet weld on the end of the sleeve without adding filler metal. Because these welds are recessed from the ends of the sleeves, a crevice remains between the sleeve and the tube in the region between the end of the sleeve and the weld. Also because the welds themselves are narrow, circumferential bands, the external area of the sleeve between the bands forms a crevice with the tube. The damage to the tube which necessitated the repair, such as a crack or a pin hole, allows entrance of water into this crevice. These crevice areas are again susceptible to many forms of corrosion when the steam generator is placed back in service.
Attempts have been made to use a continuous, autogenous weld inside the tube, without the use of a sleeve, in order to repair damaged tubes. These efforts have failed because the corrosion which led to the damage leaves oxidized surfaces which result in flaws and voids when autogenous welding is used. If filler material is used in the welding process, the filler material can contain deoxidizing and viscosity control agents which prevent the flaws and voids associated with autogenous welding. Furthermore, the use of a filler material permits the ability to build-up the tube wall, thus providing full structural replacement of the damaged tube wall with the new weld deposit.
Thus, it is apparent that improved mitigation techniques are needed to meet the future demands of PWR power plants. Once the tube plugging margin has been used and a large quantity of sleeves (i.e. &gt;10% of the tubes) have been installed to permit continued operation, tube degradation eventually leads to a decision to replace the steam generator, de-rate the plant, or decommission the facility. Therefore, alternative repair technology is needed that can provide extended tube service to the end of plant life, at an economical cost.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,430,270 and 5,514,849 describe technologies that economically extend tube service in PWR power plants. U.S. Pat. No. 5,430,270, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes a technique for clad welding the interior surface of a heat exchanger tube. U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,849, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, describes an improved technique for clad welding the interior surface of a heat exchanger tube through reliance upon a synchronously rotating apparatus. A laser welding probe is positioned within the synchronously rotating apparatus. In order to execute precision welding operations, it is necessary to maintain the laser welding probe at a predetermined position, typically a centered position. This goal is inherently difficult to achieve, and is even more difficult to achieve if a single laser welding probe is to be used with different sized tubes. A different sized tube is not necessarily limited to a different heat exchanger tube, rather the same heat exchanger tube may have different interior circumferences, as in the case of a tube with sleeve repairs.
Spring-loaded pads, wheels, or levers are used in the prior art to positionally center devices within structures. If applied to the synchronously rotating apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 5,514,849, such techniques would create rotational resistance or drag, thus affecting the rotational speed and stability of the laser welding probe system.
In view of the foregoing, it would be highly desirable to provide an improved technique for centering a laser welding probe within a tube. The technique should provide a low drag centering method that allows smooth rotation of the weld head, while maintaining its radial position within the tube. In addition, the technique should allow a single laser welding probe to be used with a tube or tubes having different interior circumferences.